Nazari Rusin has ended his three-year term Sunderland By completing the permanent transfer to Karpaty Lviv on 1 July.
The Premier League side signed the forward from Zorya Luhansk in September 2023, while they were in the Championship.
He lost prominence at Sunderland following the arrival of Regis Le Bris in 2024. To put this into context, he played 164 minutes in 10 matches under the current Black Cats manager.
In January 2025, the English club sent him on loan to Hajduk Split before agreeing a new loan to Arka Gdynia in September.
January transfer blocked for former Sunderland man
ukrainian football Nazari spoke to Rusin to discuss a range of topics, including his decision to join Karpaty Lviv and his time at Sunderland.
on 24th June The 27 year old insisted He would not rule out staying at Sunderland, only to leave permanently a week later.
Karpaty Lviv's interest is not new and they wanted him in January. However, the move could not go ahead as Arka Gdynia blocked his transfer. When asked who contacted him first and how the conversation started, he revealed.
"I wanted to go back to Karpaty in the winter, but it did not happen, Arka did not let me. Plus, we were in constant contact. Three months before the signing of the contract, I was already 90% sure that the move would happen," He said.
The Ukrainian attacker had the option of going elsewhere before accepting Carpathian Lviv.
"There was a team from Poland, and I got other offers too. But I told my agent I wanted to go to Karpaty." Rusin explained.
"We stayed in touch with Rusol, and I told him, 'I want to come back. If it doesn't work out now, we'll try to finalize a full transfer in the summer.' I was not interested in other offers because I wanted to go home.”
Due to conflict in Sunderland
Nazari Rusin played 1,039 minutes in 32 matches for the Premier League team and 22 of them in his debut season. He revealed Regis Le Bris' lack of confidence at the Stadium of Light.
"There were a lot of factors. At Zorya, I played as a winger, but at Sunderland I started playing as a number 9. Also, the team had to go through four different coaches in the same year," He added.
"And the current coach of Sunderland doesn't see a place for me in the lineup. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just football. Today you may not be suitable for one coach, but tomorrow you could be a key player for another."
On adaptation to England he said: "It was hard. I didn't know the language, but I still wanted to try it in England. I could have stayed in Ukraine and, say, had better financial terms on my contract. But for me, it was important to accept this challenge."
